Essay The Tragedy of Othello

Shakespeare's play, “Othello, the Moor of Venice,” is a powerful example of a tragedy and it’s main character, Othello, is an excellent illustration of what Aristotle constitutes as a tragic hero. The play imitates life through basic human emotions such as jealousy and rage. In addition, Othello is far from being a perfect character - another quality that meets Aristotle's requirements. Othello also matches Aristotle's ideas of tragic hero because our Othello realizes the error of his ways, causing us to feel sympathy for him. If we carefully examine the third scene in the third act, we can see how Othello fits into Aristotle's definition of tragic hero. This passage reveals how much Othello has deteriorated as far as his ability to reason

Othello, a play that was written in 1604 by William Shakespeare, is an example of a type of story called a “tragedy.” Throughout the course of the work, Othello proves himself to be very easily misled, despite his heroic status. This causes him to lose his ability to make good judgments and decisions. Even though Othello had a reputation as a hero, he ends up being one of the most gullible characters in the play when he completely falls into the evil trap that Iago set for him. As the story unfolds Othello’s character evolves in an extremely tragic way as Iago manipulates him and leaves him to rot in his misery. Eventually, this leads to Othello’s suicide.

Shakespeare is universally revered for his characterization of flawed and psychologically unstable protagonists. Hamlet is a crazed, murdering prince, Lear is narcissistic, senile, and a verbally abusive father, and Macbeth is a murderous traitor to his king and country. These unfavorable and evil attributes serve Shakespeare's main characters by presenting them as realistically written men, and there always seems a degree, however small, of sympathy associated with their respective downfalls and tragedies. Othello, however, is an anomaly.

What is a tragic hero and why is Othello considered one? The tragic hero archetype is used in many different pieces of writing and with every character comes a different way of using it. While adding to the tone of the story it also adds to the characters overall personality from the reader's perspective. In Shakespeare's Othello he uses this in his main character. This slowly comes together throughout the play and is presented with many examples. There are examples of Othello's high status, tragic flaws, and his inevitable downfall.

In Othello, the plot meets the definition of both Aristotle and Shakespeare on a tragedy. Aristotle believed that the plot is the most important element in a play and that plot also clearly points out the problem of any characters to be solved. However, the protagonist of the tragedy play only partially meets the definition of Aristotle’s tragic hero. The play is set in Venice and Cyprus where a Moor, Othello, General of the Venetian army gets secretly married to a Venetian nobleman’s daughter, Desdemona. During the play Iago manipulates Othello because Lieutenant Cassio was promoted ahead of him, and also because he suspects that Othello has had an affair with his wife. “And it is thought abroad that twixt my sheets He’s done my office. I know not if’t be true; But I, for mere suspicion in that kind, Will do as if for surety” (2.1. 364-367).

"Othello is essentially an noble character, flawed by insecurity and a nature that is naive and unsophisticated". Looking at William Shakespeare's Othello The Moor Of Venice, the central character, Othello is revered as the tragic hero. He is a character of high stature that is destroyed by his surroundings, his own actions, and his fate. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions, as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single villain, but is rather a consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments and misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification exhibited by all of the participants. Othello is first shown as a hero of war and a man of

In William Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello is the tragic hero. He is a character of high stature who is destroyed by his surroundings, his own actions, and his fate. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions, as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single villain, but is rather a consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments and misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification exhibited by the characters. Othello is first shown as a hero of war and a man of great pride and courage. As the play continues, his character begins to deteriorate and become less noble. Chronologically through the play, Othello’s character

Othello is a hero due to being a hardened and vicious warrior on the battlefield but he is also a tragic hero in this play. A tragic hero by definition is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. For example Othello is the husband of Desdemona whom he murders because he has been misled by the villainous Iago. Allowing himself to be manipulated instead following his heart, he attempts to redeem himself then he realizes he put his trust in the wrong people and it is too late to save his beloved Desdemona who he smothered

In the narrative, his dignified reputation clearly makes him a noble protagonist. To begin with, he is respected for good reputation by many people, which shows his decency. To illustrate, when people in Cyprus celebrate for the victory over the Turks, Othello is described as a “noble and valiant general” (2.2.1) by the civilians. It can be noted that people in Cyprus really adore

The extent of which Othello is a tragic hero has been open to much debate; the basis on which he is judged falls to Aristotle’s established view of the crucial elements that distinguish whether a person is truly tragic. According to Aristotle, a tragic protagonist is a nobleman or person from high status, who contributes to his own demise and illustrates a flaw or weakness in judgment. The tragic protagonist must make a fall from a high state of being to a low state or death. The tragic hero’s downfall, said Aristotle, was brought upon by some error of judgement. Aristotle’s theory is not the final word on tragedy, however it can support in pinpointing the pivotal traits in

Shakespeare has been known to create terrific tales of love and tragedy. Even James Van Der Beek, a well known actor from Dawson's Creek, once commented that, “like all great romantics, Shakespeare realized love was a lot more likely to end with a bunch of dead Danish people than with a kiss”("Americans on the Bard"). This emphasizes how easily people can relate Shakespeare to tragic love. Although he did write many poems and plays with happy endings, his tragedies stand out the most. In these tragedies, people are often led through use of misconception, trickery, or both. An example of misconception can be shown by another of Shakespeare's plays, “Antony and Cleopatra,” as he wrote for Antony's part, “this foul Egyptian hath betrayed

The traits of the tragic hero lead the audience to feel compassion for the helpless victim. However, for Othello this is not the case. His demise was of his own doing. The moment he showed violence towards Desdemona, the audience lost interest in comforting Othello. Instead, they blame him for his own ultimate ruin.

Unlike the other Shakespeare tragedies, which follow the common ideas for Shakespearean tragedy, ‘Othello’ includes some of the ideas from classical tragedies. Some of these include the downfall from high position – Othello goes from being the general, to being convicted of being a murderer. Innocent characters also suffer, like Desdemona. Othello accused her of being unfaithful, when she never was. He ends up killing her out of jealousy; when she does not deserve it.

Only by considering a range of perspectives can we truly appreciate the world of Shakespeare’s Othello. It is through my exploration of these perspectives and their relationship with changing morals and values that has enriched my understanding of the play. One such reading of the play challenges the marginalisation and objectification of woman in a patriarchal Venetian society, while taking into account the changing role of women in modern society. Another interpretation of Othello examines its post colonial elements through the protagonist Othello, and his insecurities of being a black man in a white society. My interpretation of the play as a portrayal of the values existing in Shakespeare’s time is filtered through these

In Shakespeare?s play Othello, Othello himself is the tragic hero. He is an individual of high stature who is destroyed by his surroundings, his own actions, and his fate. His destruction is essentially precipitated by his own actions, as well as by the actions of the characters surrounding him. The tragedy of Othello is not a fault of a single person, but is rather the consequence of a wide range of feelings, judgments, misjudgments, and attempts for personal justification revealed by the characters.